Ken Winter
Advent – We Three Kings (Balthazar’s Story)

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Introduction to this post:

This is the fourth of this year’s weekly Advent posts. Those of you who have followed the blog for more than a year know that it is my annual practice to post a weekly story for the season of Advent about the incarnational birth of Jesus. My hope is that the stories have become a part of your Advent tradition as you remember and celebrate the Good News of the advent of our Lord and Savior.

This year’s posts are as follows:

Week #1 - November 27th: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Joseph’s Story)

Week #2 - December 4th: Away in a Manger (Achim’s Story)

Week #3 – December 11th: Silent Night (Moshe’s Story)

This week - December 18th: We Three Kings (Balthazar’s Story)

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My name is Balthazar and I am a lifelong student of the science of the stars….

Advent – We Three Kings (Balthazar’s Story)
Ken Winter
Advent – Silent Night (Moshe’s Story)

If you would prefer to listen to this post as a podcast, CLICK HERE.

Introduction to this post:

This is the third of this year’s weekly Advent posts. Those of you who have followed the blog for more than a year know that it is my annual practice to post a weekly story for the season of Advent about the incarnational birth of Jesus. My hope is that the stories have become a part of your Advent tradition as you remember and celebrate the Good News of the advent of our Lord and Savior.

This year’s posts are as follows:

Week #1 - November 27th: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Joseph’s Story)

Week #2 - December 4th: Away in a Manger (Achim’s Story)

This week – December 11th: Silent Night (Moshe’s Story)

December 18th: We Three Kings (Balthazar’s Story)

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I am a shepherd named Moshe.

Advent – Silent Night (Moshe’s Story)
Ken Winter
Advent – Away in a Manger (Achim’s Story)

If you would prefer to listen to this post as a podcast, CLICK HERE.

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Introduction to this post:

This is the second of this year’s weekly Advent posts. Those of you who have followed the blog for more than a year know that it is my annual practice to post a weekly story for the season of Advent about the incarnational birth of Jesus. My hope is that the stories have become a part of your Advent tradition as you remember and celebrate the Good News of the advent of our Lord and Savior.

This year’s posts are as follows:

Last week - November 27th: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Joseph’s Story)

This week - December 4th: Away in a Manger (Achim’s Story)

December 11th: Silent Night (Moshe’s Story)

December 18th: We Three Kings (Balthazar’s Story)

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My name is Achim. My family and I live here in Bethlehem, the town of our ancestor David, the shepherd king….

Advent – Away in a Manger (Achim’s Story)
Ken Winter
Advent - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Joseph’s ...

If you would prefer to listen to this post as a podcast, CLICK HERE.

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A preface to this post:

Dear family, friends and faithful readers of this blog,

This week is my 321st weekly blog post—not a huge number for many, but for me it has been a sharing of my heart with you. Those of you who have followed the blog for more than a year know that it is my annual practice to post a weekly stories for the season of Advent about the incarnational birth of Jesus. My hope is that the stories have become a part of your Advent tradition as you remember and celebrate the Good News of the advent of our Lord and Savior.

This year, i am repeating four of the weekly Advent posts from 2019 for two reasons. First, i have made changes to the posts, and have a higher quality audio recording of the posts in the event you would like to listen to them on audio—feel free to click the link above to do so.

The second reason is that i will be bringing my season of posting to an end as of the end of December. As many of you know, i have been diagnosed with metastatic (stage 4) lung cancer and am now being placed on home hospice care. Thus, it has become more difficult for me to produce these post. I hope and pray you receive these as my gift and expression of love to you.

The remaining five posts are as follows:

November 27th: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Joseph’s Story)

December 4th: Away in a Manger (Achim’s Story)

December 11th: Silent Night (Moshe’s Story)

December 18th: We Three Kings (Balthazar’s Story)

December 25th: A Christmas Celebration (My Story)

Advent - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Joseph’s Story)
Ken Winter
His Dwelling Place

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What does it mean to live in the shelter of the Most High and to find rest in His shadow? This is how Psalm 91 begins—a psalm many attribute to Moses. i believe that attribution is fitting. Moses is the one who carried Jehovah God’s instructions to His people for constructing the Tabernacle in the wilderness. He witnessed the fabrication of each part and completed the last of the work.

The Tabernacle was completed exactly as the Lord specified and was erected on the first anniversary of Israel’s departure from Egypt. That day, the Lord’s glorious presence descended upon it, covering and filling it with His awesome glory. His presence, previously seen in the guiding pillar of cloud, now took residence within His dwelling place among the people. From that day on, as His Spirit led, the people moved forward; when His Spirit remained in the Tabernacle, the people encamped.

His Dwelling Place

Walking With The Master

Simple Stories, Profound Truths

Simple Stories, Profound Truths

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When Jesus spoke to the crowds, He often used simple stories (parables) to communicate profound truths about the Kingdom of God. Have you ever gotten confused over what Jesus was saying? If so, you’re in good company because even the apostles were confused—until they were filled with the Holy Spirit. The good news is, if we are followers of Jesus, we have that same Holy Spirit inside of us to reveal all truth.

Once, the disciples asked Him, “Why do You use parables when You talk to the people?” Jesus replied, “To those who listen to My teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.” He added, “I use parables because they look, but don’t really see. They hear, but don’t really listen or understand.”

Jesus was emphasizing profound truths ….

Which is the Greater Tragedy?

Which is the Greater Tragedy?

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Our news feeds are constantly filled with reports of death and destruction, whether caused by accidents, natural disasters, or inhumane acts of terror committed by individuals, gangs, organizations, or governments. No city, nation, or part of the world is exempt. We can trace the existence of tragedy all the way back to the murder of Abel at the hand of his brother Cain, and follow its heinous path through history to the present day.

The time of Roman rule when Jesus walked the earth was no exception. Though Scripture does not provide details, it does tell us that Pontius Pilate, the governing prefect of the region, ordered the killing of some Galileans as they were offering sacrifices in the Temple in Jerusalem.

Plucking the Grain

Plucking the Grain

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 On one particular day, as Jesus and His disciples were walking through a grainfield, the religious leaders accused Jesus and His disciples of an act of “Sabbath defiance.” The Pharisees accused them of “wantonly disregarding the rules” of Sabbath by plucking off the heads of grain, rubbing them between their hands, and eating the grain.

Thus we see the clash—one that continues today—the religious traditions of men versus an authentic relationship with a Holy God.

Love Your Neighbor

Love Your Neighbor

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“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew and Mark both write that this was Jesus’s response when the expert in religious law asked Him which was the most important commandment in the law of Moses.(1) Luke writes that the expert in religious law told Jesus that they were the most important commandments in response to Jesus’s question, and He affirmed him. If the Spirit of God impressed all three Gospel writers to include this dialogue, it is well worth our paying attention.

Interestingly, Luke goes on to include the continuation of that conversation between the lawyer and Jesus.(2) Knowing that he was to love God without  limitation and love his neighbor to the same degree that he loved himself, the lawyer found the need to define who his neighbor was. i believe there are two reasons why he sought that clarification.

Who Dared to Anoint Jesus?

Who Dared to Anoint Jesus?

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Our actions are often an accurate reflection of our thoughts about Jesus and the nature of our relationship with Him. But an even more telling indicator is our inaction or our failure to act. Such was the case one night in the home of Simon the Pharisee, who had invited Jesus to dine with him.

We’re not told Simon’s purpose for inviting Jesus into his home. We don’t know if Simon was a sincere seeker like Nicodemus—wanting to truly get to know Jesus, or whether he had some ulterior motive in mind. Regardless, he extended an invitation to Jesus, and Jesus chose to accept. Remember, nothing about Jesus’ journey was random; it was a part of the Father’s plan for Jesus to dine with Simon that night.

His Face Was Set

His Face Was Set

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The New King James translation of Luke 9:51 says “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Jesus to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.” The timeframe of this particular journey recorded in Luke 9 was well over a year before Jesus arrived in Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday. He still had much yet to do, messages yet to preach, and miracles yet to perform. But in this verse, Luke is reminding us that Jesus never lost sight of why the Father had sent Him. No matter what was on His “to do list,” His face was always set, His eye was always focused, and His stride never wavered from His ultimate purpose.

Sometimes, as we remember the events of Holy Week, we can fall into a trap of thinking that Jesus’s crucifixion was the result of Judas’s betrayal, the Sanhedrin’s envy and hatred, Pilate’s spinelessness, and the soldiers’ cruelty. We can be lulled into thinking His death was involuntary. And salvation was the result of God taking something that the enemy meant for evil and using it for His glory and our good.

Then the Devil Came

Then the Devil Came

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At the Jordan River, Jesus identified with us through His baptism; in the Judaean wilderness, He identified with us through His temptation. Do not miss this – the Father ordered His steps into the wilderness, just as He had ordered His steps into the Jordan, so that He might there be tempted, tested and proven. Not proven to the Father; the Father knew that He could not fail. Jesus was led into the wilderness to prove to us that He could not fail.

Another important distinction we must understand before we look at the events that unfolded in the wilderness is that Jesus was not tempted as the Son of God; He did not use His divine power to overcome the temptation. If He had, there would be nothing for us to learn. Remember, He came to teach us how to live, to enable us to live, and to empower us to live. You and I will never have divine power; we’re not God! We have access to divine power, but we do not ourselves possess it. Therefore, if Jesus had responded to Satan as the Son of God, He would not have taught us how to respond to temptation. Rather, He responded – and was proven – as the Son of Man using the same spiritual resources that are available to us in our journey today – the power of the Holy Spirit and the authority of the Word of God.

The Time Has Come

The Time Has Come

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As 2024 approaches and begins, many of us are taking time to revisit our priorities for the new year. It is often a time when we make new resolutions and new – or renewed – commitments. It can also be a time when we decide to take action on those things we’ve been putting off.

For the past several weeks, we have all been celebrating the advent of the Baby in the manger. But today, let’s fast forward about twenty-nine years. At some point during the intervening years, Joseph died. Jesus assumed the role of the oldest son and carried forward the family carpentry trade, while caring for His mother and his younger half-siblings. However, the time had now come according to His Heavenly Father’s timetable for Him to step out from obscurity . . . and Jesus would not delay.

The Lost Son

The Lost Son

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Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach.(1) The Pharisees and their scribes continually criticized Jesus because He was associating with “such sinful people” — even eating with them! The religious leaders were functioning under the false belief that there is a hierarchy of sin – dividing “acceptable” sins from those that proper Jewish society would have deemed to be “unacceptable”. They would have identified “notorious sinners” as people who led conspicuously immoral lives and/or engaged in highly questionable occupations.

But it also would have included people with certain diseases or disabilities that were perceived to be a sign of some great sin. This group would have been physically and morally unapproachable by these religious leaders. Tax collectors were generally hated and despised by their fellow countrymen. Therefore they would have also been considered to be a part of this larger group. No “respectable” Jew would have had anything to do with this collection of “notorious sinners”.  The Pharisees viewed this group as being “beyond saving” and viewed themselves as not being in need of saving. Sadly, the Pharisees never saw themselves as being among the lost.

Sermon of Sermons

Sermon of Sermons

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Over the years, God has used many preachers to teach me His Word. Some were at a distance, like John Piper, Warren Wiersbe, Chuck Swindoll, John MacArthur, and Tim Keller. Some have been close and personal, like Henry Blackaby, Keith Thomas, Mark Becton and David Platt. Some have spoken through the ages, like Charles Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, D. L. Moody and A. W. Tozer. Others date back to the New Testament, like Paul, John, Peter and James, as well as the Old Testament prophets like Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zechariah. But as greatly as the Father has used each and every one of these men – and so many more – to be heralds and teachers of His Word, all of them pale in comparison with Jesus.

One day He gathered the multitude that had come out into the countryside to hear Him, and He began to teach… the greatest sermon that ever was – the sermon of all sermons. Jesus taught….

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